People are being asked what should decide where rubbish tips, quarries and recycling centres should go in North Yorkshire.

But with the debate over the planned incinerator at Allerton Park continuing, critics say views should have been taken before now.

Bob Schofield is from the North Yorkshire Waste Action Group.

North Yorkshire County Council, the North York Moors National Park Authority, and the City of York Council, are producing a joint Minerals and Waste Plan, setting out the policies which will govern developments such as quarries and their extensions, recycling centres, and waste treatment centres. The Plan will cover an extensive area inluding the protected landscape of the North York Moors National Park, and York.

The plan, which is being produced jointly to enable the issues to be examined on a wider scale and to pool plan-making resources, will also help to identify the appropriate sites for any new minerals and waste developments up until the year 2030.

“This will be a highly important policy document, acknowledging the needs of minerals and waste developments while at the same time offering protection for the important landscape and environmental features of the Joint Plan area,” said David Bowe, Corporate Director for Business and Environmental Services at North Yorkshire County Council.

“The three authorities are anxious to consult on the widest possible basis in the process of preparing this policy, and a first consultation, examining what the plan should contain and what the priorities should be, will begin next week.”